生命历程、健康状况与老年人的主观年龄

Life Course,Health Status and Subjective Age of the Elderly

主观年龄体现了个体对年龄和衰老过程的自我感受,主观年龄的年轻化倾向是成功老龄化的重要标识。采用2018年中国老年社会追踪调查(CLASS)数据,从生命历程、健康状况两个维度对我国老年人的主观年龄特征及变动趋势进行分析。总体而言,我国老年人倾向于低估自身主观年龄。随着增龄,老年人主观年龄与实际年龄的差距不断拉大;生命历程早期阶段的不幸经历增强了老年人对自身的老化认同,而现期生活事件同样会显著影响老年人的主观年龄;良好的身心健康状况及评价是维持老年人较年轻的主观年龄的基础。健康状况在生命历程与主观年龄的关系中发挥了中介作用;老年人主观年龄的内部差异是生命历程、健康状况与个体特征共同作用的结果。

Subjective age represents people's perception of age and the aging process,a youthful subjective age of older adults is a predictor of successful aging.Based on the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey(CLASS),we investigate the subjective age and its trend of the elderly in China,and the relationship between life course,health status and subjective age.The main results show that the Chinese elderly tend to underestimate their subjective age.Besides,older adults exhibit a larger difference between subjective age and chronological age when compared with younger adults.For those who suffered from early life misfortune,their subjective age is higher than those who did not.Life events also have an impact on the subjective age of the elderly.Good physical and mental health and its evaluation are the basis for maintaining the younger subjective age of the elderly.And the association between life course and subjective age is mediated by health status.The differences in the subjective age of the elderly are the result of the combined effect of the life course,health status,and individual characteristics.